QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (29) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bartoletti, A. Articles by Maffei, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bartoletti, A. Articles by Maffei, L. Pubmed/NCBI databases Gene GEO Profiles HomoloGene UniGene Substance via MeSH

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, December 1, 2002, 22(23):10072-10077

BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Heterozygous Knock-Out Mice for Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Show a Pathway-Specific Impairment of Long-Term Potentiation But Normal Critical Period for Monocular Deprivation

Alessandro Bartoletti^{1, *}, Laura Cancedda^{1, *}, Susan W. Reid², Lino Tessarollo², Vittorio Porciatti³, Tommaso Pizzorusso^{1, 3}, and Lamberto Maffei^{1, 3}

¹ Scuola Normale Superiore, Laboratorio di Neurobiologia, 56100 Pisa, Italy, ² Neural Development Group, Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21701, and ³ Istituto di Neuroscienze Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Area Ricerca San Cataldo, 56100 Pisa, Italy

Genetic deletion of a single allele of the BDNF gene affects hippocampal LTP and causes several behavioral phenotypes, including deficits in spatial learning. In the developing visual cortex, overexpression of BDNF accelerates the time course of the critical period for monocular deprivation (MD), and exogenous administration of BDNF alters the outcome of MD. We asked whether reduced levels of BDNF could affect visual cortex plasticity by studying long-term potentiation (LTP) induction and the effects of MD in heterozygous BDNF knock-out mice. We found that theta burst stimulation that induced LTP in the layer IV-III pathway of wild-type (wt) mice caused only a transient potentiation in BDNF+/ mice, and that this potentiation vanished in 25 min. In contrast, LTP elicited by stimulation of the white matter (WM), a form of LTP that can be induced only during the critical period, occurred normally in wt and BDNF+/ mice. The effects of MD during the critical period were similar in wt and BDNF+/ mice, indicating that layer IV-evoked, layer III LTP is not required for ocular dominance plasticity. We then asked whether reduction of cortical BDNF levels could prolong the critical period for MD and for the WM-evoked, layer III LTP induction. We found that in adult BDNF+/ mice, WM-evoked, layer III LTP was not inducible, and that the critical period for MD terminated normally. We conclude that deletion of one copy of the BDNF gene selectively impairs LTP of the layer IV-III pathway but does not alter ocular dominance plasticity.

Key words: ocular dominance; neurotrophins; LTP; visual cortex; TrkB; visual deprivation

---

^* A.B. and L.C. contributed equally to this paper.

---

Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/02/222310072-06$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H.-J. Jang, K.-H. Cho, H.-S. Kim, S. J. Hahn, M.-S. Kim, and D.-J. Rhie Age-Dependent Decline in Supragranular Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity by Increased Inhibition During the Critical Period in the Rat Primary Visual Cortex J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2009; 101(1): 269 - 275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Abidin, U. T. Eysel, V. Lessmann, and T. Mittmann Impaired GABAergic inhibition in the visual cortex of brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous knockout mice J. Physiol., April 1, 2008; 586(7): 1885 - 1901. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Kolarow, T. Brigadski, and V. Lessmann Postsynaptic Secretion of BDNF and NT-3 from Hippocampal Neurons Depends on Calcium Calmodulin Kinase II Signaling and Proceeds via Delayed Fusion Pore Opening J. Neurosci., September 26, 2007; 27(39): 10350 - 10364. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Genoud, G. W. Knott, K. Sakata, B. Lu, and E. Welker Altered Synapse Formation in the Adult Somatosensory Cortex of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Heterozygote Mice J. Neurosci., March 10, 2004; 24(10): 2394 - 2400. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help